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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Decision Session - Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care |
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Date |
18 July 2023 |
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Present |
Councillor Coles |
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Officers Present |
Pauline Stuchfield, Director of Customer & Communities Paul Cliff, Joint/Executive Head of Service, Adult Learning & Skills, York and North Yorkshire |
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1. Declarations of Interest (10:01 am)
The Executive Member was asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they might have in respect of the business on the agenda.
None were declared.
2. Minutes (10:01 am)
Resolved: That the minutes of the Decision Session held on 13 July 2022 be approved as a correct record.
3. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the session under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
4. Approval for submission and publication of the Accountability Statement for York Learning (10.02 am)
The Executive Member considered a report which detailed the Accountability Statement for York Learning.
The Joint/Executive Head of Service, Adult Learning & Skills for York and North Yorkshire introduced the report and noted that this related to the Skills for Jobs white paper which required all providers that received over £1m of funding to write and publish an accountability statement, this was due by 31 July 2023.
He noted that the existing strategy had been aligned with the skills improvement priorities. The aim was to provide opportunities for low skilled / low paid workers through learning. The Accountability Statement formed part of the funding agreement for next year.
In response to the Executive Member, he outlined how the service was targeting provision by identifying a range of learning spaces such as Library spaces, school venues and community centres to provide access to the wider community, and by aligning the curriculum to meet the needs of specific groups.
He noted the importance of addressing digital access needs. Employers were looking for digital skills; new technology such as drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) were fields that required up to date skills, introductory courses could be provided through the Learning Skills Improvement Fund.
Poverty has also led to digital access issues; a lack of equipment and basic skills were barriers to residents being able to complete electronic forms and use email for example.
He also reported that the partnership with North Yorkshire was developing progression/ pathway documents using the six steps to engagement model. York College was leading the provision for this with providers across York and North Yorkshire.
The Executive Member thanked officers and approved the report and associated plan.
Resolved:
i. That the York Learning Accountability Agreement 2023/24, and its publication, be approved.
Reason:
For the service to continue to meet its funding obligations to ESFA a final version of the accountability statement must be submitted by 31 July 2023.
Cllr J Coles, Chair
[The meeting started at 10.00 am and finished at 10.13 am].